Sbisa healthy, happy to be back in the fold

Nov. 4, 2013

Updated 10:00 p.m.

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The New York Rangers' Brian Boyle (left) and Ducks defenseman Luca Sbisa hit the boards during the first period at Madison Square Garden on Monday in New York City. It was Sbisa's first game with the Ducks since suffering an ankle injury in a preseason game. BRUCE BENNETT, GETTY IMAGES

The New York Rangers' Brian Boyle (left) and Ducks defenseman Luca Sbisa hit the boards during the first period at Madison Square Garden on Monday in New York City. It was Sbisa's first game with the Ducks since suffering an ankle injury in a preseason game. BRUCE BENNETT, GETTY IMAGES

NEW YORK – Luca Sbisa often wears a smile on his face, but this one seemed bigger than usual as he took off his gear in the Ducks' dressing room after a Monday morning skate at Madison Square Garden.

Sbisa jumped off early with teammates instead of staying for extra work long after everyone else left the ice. The day finally came for the defenseman to make his season debut after a sprained left ankle early in the preseason set him back.

It was a productive 18 minutes, 12 seconds of ice time as Sbisa assisted on Corey Perry’s first-period goal and registered six hits in the Ducks’ 2-1 win over the New York Rangers.

Sbisa hurt himself in the preseason opener against Phoenix and the thought originally was he would possibly miss the three-game trip to start the season. He missed the first 15 games instead.

It wasn't nearly what Sbisa, 23, had imagined when he got ready for the season, one he is expected to take another step in his development into a potential top-four defenseman.

"Going into camp, you have high expectations," Sbisa said. "You want to play good right off the bat. And then you get an injury like that in your first preseason game, it throws every plan upside down.

"It wasn’t one of those injuries where it just takes a little bit of time and then you come back and feel like nothing happened. It's one of those where it takes a long time and will linger for a bit."

An intense practice session last week in Philadelphia proved revealing to Sbisa and the Ducks, with both agreeing he could use a brief conditioning stint in the American Hockey League to get back into game shape.

Sbisa played for the Norfolk Admirals on Friday and Saturday, recording an assist in each and logging big minutes.

"I hadn’t played really in six months," Sbisa said, "and I felt it out there. They brought it up to me that I have the options to go to the AHL (and) play in two games. It was all up to me. They didn't tell me I got to go down. It's there. It definitely won't hurt you.

"Playing games is much more fun than practicing and skating all the time. I got nothing to lose. I can only win when I go down there."

Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau had the tough call of pulling a defenseman out of the lineup and Sami Vatanen, who scored his first goal Saturday in Buffalo, was sacrificed to get Sbisa back in.

Boudreau said Vatanen is healthy but "not 100 percent" after suffering an upper-body injury and missing the third period Saturday.

“When you ask a guy to go down on conditioning to play a couple of games in the American League and he comes back, you better put him in,” Boudreau said. “I think it's the right thing to do.

"He's been in our top four since I’ve been here. Those are the kind of guys you don't want to sit once they're healthy."

Koivu nears return

Boudreau said injured center Saku Koivu could return to the team shortly as the veteran does not have any lingering concussion symptoms from being hit by Columbus forward Brandon Dubinsky last week.

Koivu could be back as soon as Wednesday's home game against Phoenix as he has been skating and working out in Anaheim. He missed the last four games after being knocked out briefly by Dubinsky, who was not disciplined by the league.

Boudreau inserted Rickard Rakell into the lineup after recalling the forward from Norfolk on Sunday and sending back center Peter Holland.

"We knew, with Saku sitting at home probably ready to go by Wednesday, that we wanted to give Rakell an opportunity,” Boudreau said. “He was a healthy scratch on two or three games of this trip, and we thought this was a good place."

Afterward, Boudreau was impressed with the Swede’s game in 14 minutes of ice time.

“I thought he looked really good,” he said. “He’s got good hands and he can score, but I thought he hung in really good as a checker as well. I was really happy with him.”

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